BAI JUYI (also BO JUYI or PO CHü-I; Chinese : 白居易; 772–846)
was a renowned Chinese poet and
Tang dynastyTang dynasty government official. Many
of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday
life, including as governor of three different provinces. Burton
Watson says of Bai Juyi: "he worked to develop a style that was simple
and easy to understand, and posterity has requited his efforts by
making him one of the most well-loved and widely read of all Chinese
poets, both in his native land and in the other countries of the East
that participate in the appreciation of Chinese culture. He is also,
thanks to the translations and biographical studies by
Arthur Waley ,
one of the most accessible to English readers". Bai was also
influential in the historical development of Japanese literature. His
younger brother
Bai Xingjian was a short story writer.

CONTENTS

* 1 Name variants

* 2 Life

* 2.1 Birth and childhood
* 2.2 Early career
* 2.3 Exile
* 2.4 Return to the capital and a new emperor
* 2.5 As Governor of
HangzhouHangzhou
* 2.6 Life near
LuoyangLuoyang
* 2.7 Governor of
SuzhouSuzhou
* 2.8 Later career
* 2.9 Retirement
* 2.10 Death

Bai JuyiBai Juyi often referred to himself in life as Letian (
Wade-Giles :
Lo-t'ien), roughly the equivalent of "happy-go-lucky". Later in life,
he referred to himself as the Hermit of Xiangshan.

LIFE

Bai JuyiBai Juyi lived during the Middle Tang period. This was a period of
rebuilding and recovery for the Tang Empire, following the An Lushan
Rebellion , and following the poetically flourishing era famous for Li
Bai (701－762), Wang Wei (701－761), and
Du FuDu Fu (712－770). Bai Juyi
lived through the reigns of eight or nine emperors, being born in the
Dali regnal era (766-779) of
Emperor Daizong of TangEmperor Daizong of Tang . He had a long
and successful career both as a government official and a poet,
although these two facets of his career seemed to have come in
conflict with each other at certain points.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was also a
devoted Chan Buddhist .

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

Bai JuyiBai Juyi was born in 772 in
TaiyuanTaiyuan ,
ShanxiShanxi , which was then a few
miles from location of the modern city, although he was in Zhengyang ,
HenanHenan for most of his childhood. His family was poor but scholarly,
his father being an Assistant Department Magistrate of the
second-class. At the age of ten he was sent away from his family to
avoid a war that broke out in the north of China, and went to live
with relatives in the area known as
Jiangnan , more specifically
XuzhouXuzhou .

EARLY CAREER

Bai Juyi's official career was initially successful. He passed the
jinshi examinations in 800.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi may have taken up residence in
the western capital city of Chang\'an , in 801. Not long after this,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi formed a long friendship with a scholar
Yuan Zhen . Bai
Juyi's father died in 804, and the young Bai spent the traditional
period of retirement mourning the death of his parent, which he did
along the
Wei River , near to the capital. 806, the first full year of
the reign of
Emperor Xianzong of Tang , was the year when
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was
appointed to a minor post as a government official, at Zhouzhi , which
was not far from
Chang'anChang'an (and also in
ShaanxiShaanxi province). He was made
a member (scholar) of the
Hanlin Academy , in 807, and Reminder of the
Left from 807 until 815, except when in 811 his mother died, and he
spent the traditional three-year mourning period again along the Wei
River, before returning to court in the winter of 814, where he held
the title of Assistant Secretary to the Prince's Tutor. It was not a
high-ranking position, but nevertheless one which he was soon to lose.

While serving as a minor palace official in 814, Bai managed to get
himself in official trouble. He made enemies at court and with certain
individuals in other positions. It was partly his written works which
led him into trouble. He wrote two long memorials, translated by
Arthur Waley as "On Stopping the War", regarding what he considered to
be an overly lengthy campaign against a minor group of
TatarsTatars ; and he
wrote a series of poems, in which he satirized the actions of greedy
officials and highlighting the sufferings of the common folk.

At this time, one of the post-
An LushanAn Lushan warlords (jiedushi ), Wu
Yuanji in
HenanHenan , had seized control of Zhangyi Circuit (centered in
ZhumadianZhumadian ), an act for which he sought reconciliation with the
imperial government, trying to get an imperial pardon as a necessary
prerequisite. Despite the intercession of influential friends, Wu was
denied, thus officially putting him in the position of rebellion.
Still seeking a pardon, Wu turned to assassination, blaming the Prime
Minister,
Wu Yuanheng , and other officials: the imperial court
generally began by dawn, requiring the ministers to rise early in
order to attend in a timely manner; and, on July 13, 815, before dawn,
the Tang Prime Minister
Wu Yuanheng was set to go to the palace for a
meeting with Emperor Xianzong. As he left his house, arrows were fired
at his retinue. His servants all fled, and the assassins seized Wu
Yuanheng and his horse, and then decapitated him, taking his head with
them. The assassins also attacked another official who favored the
campaign against the rebellious warlords, Pei Du, but was unable to
kill him. The people at the capital were shocked and there was
turmoil, with officials refusing to leave their personal residences
until after dawn. The Three Gorges of the Yangzi had to be
traversed on the boat ride from
Jiujiang to Sichuan.

In this context,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi overstepped his minor position by
memorializing the emperor. As Assistant Secretary to the Prince's
Tutor, Bai's memorial was a breach of protocol — he should have
waited for those of censorial authority to take the lead before
offering his own criticism. This was not the only charge which his
opponents used against him. His mother had died, apparently caused by
falling into a well while looking at some flowers, and two poems
written by
Bai JuyiBai Juyi — the titles of which Waley translates as "In
Praise of Flowers" and "The New Well" — were used against him as a
sign of lack of Filial Piety , one of the
ConfucianConfucian ideals. The result
was exile.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was demoted to the rank of Sub-Prefect and
banished from the court and the capital city to
Jiujiang , then known
as Xun Yang, on the southern shores of the
Yangtze RiverYangtze River in northwest
JiangxiJiangxi Province. After three years, he was sent as Governor of a
remote place in Sichuan. At the time, the main travel route there was
up the Yangzi River. This trip allowed
Bai JuyiBai Juyi a few days to visit
his friend Yuan Zhen, who was also in exile and with whom he explored
the rock caves located at
YichangYichang .
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was delighted by the
flowers and trees for which his new location was noted. In 819, he was
recalled back to the capital, ending his exile.

RETURN TO THE CAPITAL AND A NEW EMPEROR

In 819,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was recalled to the capital and given the position
of second-class Assistant Secretary. In 821,
ChinaChina got a new emperor,
Muzong . After succeeding to the throne, Muzong spent his time
feasting and heavily drinking and neglecting his duties as emperor.
Meanwhile, the temporarily subdued regional military governors,
jiedushi, began to challenge the central Tang government, leading to
the new de facto independence of three circuits north of the Yellow
River , which had been previously subdued by Emperor Xianzong.
Furthermore, Muzong's administration was characterized by massive
corruption. Again,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi wrote a series of memorials in
remonstrance.

AS GOVERNOR OF HANGZHOU

Again,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was sent away from the court and the capital, but
this time to the important position of the thriving town of
HangzhouHangzhou ,
which was at the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and located in
the scenic neighborhood of
West LakeWest Lake . Fortunately for their
friendship,
Yuan Zhen at the time was serving an assignment in nearby
NingboNingbo , also in what is today
ZhejiangZhejiang , so the two could
occasionally get together, at least until Bai Juyi's term as Governor
expired.

As governor of Hangzhou,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi realised that the farmland nearby
depended on the water of West Lake, but, due to the negligence of
previous governors, the old dike had collapsed and the lake had dried
out to the point that the local farmers were suffering from severe
drought. He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dike,
with a dam to control the flow of water, thus providing water for
irrigation, relieving the drought, and improving the livelihood of the
local people over the following years.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi used his leisure time
to enjoy the beauty of West Lake, visiting the lake almost every day.
He ordered the construction of a causeway to allow walking on foot,
instead of requiring the services of a boat. A causeway in the West
Lake (Baisha Causeway, 白沙堤) was later referred to as Bai
Causeway in Bai Juyi's honour, but the original causeway built by Bai
Juyi named Baigong Causeway (白公堤) no longer exists.

LIFE NEAR LUOYANG

In 824, Bai Juyi's commission as governor expired, and he received
the nominal rank of Imperial Tutor, which provided more in the way of
official salary than official duties, and he relocated his household
to a suburb of the "eastern capital,"
LuoyangLuoyang . At the time, Luoyang
was known as the eastern capital of the empire and was a major
metropolis with a population of around one million and a reputation as
the "cultural capital," as opposed to the more politically oriented
capital of Chang\'an .

In 825, at the age of fifty-three,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was given the position of
Governor (Prefect) of
SuzhouSuzhou , situated on the lower reaches of the
Yangtze RiverYangtze River and on the shores of
Lake Tai . For the first two years,
he enjoyed himself with feasts and picnic outings, but after a couple
years he became ill and was forced into a period of retirement.

LATER CAREER

After his time as Prefect of
HangzhouHangzhou (822-824) and then Suzhou
(825-827),
Bai JuyiBai Juyi returned to the capital. He then served in various
official posts in the capital, and then again as prefect/governor,
this time in
HenanHenan , the province in which
LuoyangLuoyang was located. It was
in
HenanHenan that his first son was born, though only to die prematurely
the next year. In 831
Yuan Zhen died. For the next thirteen years,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi continued to hold various nominal posts but actually lived in
retirement.

In 832,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi repaired an unused part of the Xiangshan Monastery,
at Longmen , about 7.5 miles south of Luoyang.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi moved to this
location, and began to refer to himself as the "Hermit of Xianshang".
This area, now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site , is famous for its tens
of thousands of statues of
BuddhaBuddha and his disciples carved out of the
rock. In 839, he experienced a paralytic attack, losing the use of his
left leg, and became a bedridden invalid for several months. After his
partial recovery, he spent his final years arranging his Collected
Works, which he presented to the main monasteries of those localities
in which he had spent time.

DEATH

The Tomb of Bai Juyi.

In 846,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi died, leaving instructions for a simple burial in a
grave at the monastery, with a plain style funeral, and to not have a
posthumous title conferred upon him. He has a tomb monument in
Longmen, situated on Xiangshan across the Yi River from the Longmen
cave temples in the vicinity of
LuoyangLuoyang ,
HenanHenan . It is a circular
mound of earth 4 meters high, 52 meters in circumference, and with a
2.80 meter high Monument inscribed "Bai Juyi".

WORKS

Bai JuyiBai Juyi has been known for his plain, direct, and easily
comprehensible style of verse, as well as for his social and political
criticism. Besides his surviving poems, several letters and essays are
also extant.

HISTORY

One of the most prolific of the Tang poets,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi wrote over 2,800
poems , which he had copied and distributed to ensure their survival.
They are notable for their relative accessibility: it is said that he
would rewrite any part of a poem if one of his servants was unable to
understand it. The accessibility of Bai Juyi's poems made them
extremely popular in his lifetime, in both
ChinaChina and
JapanJapan , and they
continue to be read in these countries today.

FAMOUS POEMS

Bai Juyi's "Pi Pa Xing", in running script, calligraphy by Wen
Zhengming , Ming Dynasty.
Bai JuyiBai Juyi statue in front of Pipa
Pavilion on the Xunyang River at Jiujiang, where he wrote his "The
Song of the
PipaPipa Player" poem.

Two of his most famous works are the long narrative poems "Chang hen
ge " ("Song of Everlasting Sorrow"), which tells the story of Yang
Guifei , and "The Song of the
PipaPipa Player". Like
Du FuDu Fu , he had a
strong sense of social responsibility and is well known for his
satirical poems, such as The Elderly Charcoal Seller. Also he wrote
about military conflicts during the Tang Dynasty. Poems like "Song of
Everlasting Regret" were examples of the peril in
ChinaChina during the An
Lushan rebellion.

Bai JuyiBai Juyi also wrote intensely romantic poems to fellow officials with
whom he studied and traveled. These speak of sharing wine, sleeping
together, and viewing the moon and mountains. One friend, Yu Shunzhi,
sent Bai a bolt of cloth as a gift from a far-off posting, and Bai
Juyi debated on how best to use the precious material:

About to cut it to make a mattress,
pitying the breaking of the leaves;
about to cut it to make a bag,
pitying the dividing of the flowers.
It is better to sew it,
making a coverlet of joined delight;
I think of you as if I'm with you,
day or night.

Bai JuyiBai Juyi was known for his interest in the old yuefu form of poetry,
which was a typical form of
Han poetryHan poetry , namely folk ballad verses,
collected or written by the
Music Bureau . These were often a form of
social protest. And, in fact, writing poetry to promote social
progress was explicitly one of his objectives. He is also known for
his well-written poems in the regulated verse style.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL

Bai JuyiBai Juyi is considered one of the greatest Chinese poets, but even
during the ninth century, sharp divide in critical opinions of his
poetry already existed. While other poets like
Pi Rixiu only had the
highest praise for Bai Juyi, others were hostile, like Sikong Tu
(司空圖) who described Bai as "overbearing in force, yet feeble in
energy (qi ), like domineering merchants in the market place." Bai's
poetry was immensely popular in his own lifetime, but his popularity,
his use of vernacular, the sensual delicacy of some of his poetry, led
to criticism of him being "common" or "vulgar". In a tomb inscription
for Li Kan (李戡), a critic of Bai, poet
Du Mu wrote, couched in the
words of Li Kan: "...It has bothered me that ever since the Yuanhe
Reign we have had poems by
Bai JuyiBai Juyi and
Yuan Zhen whose sensual
delicacy has defied the norms. Excepting gentlemen of mature strength
and classical decorum, many have been ruined by them. They have
circulated among the common people and been inscribed on walls;
mothers and fathers teach them to sons and daughters orally, through
winter's cold and summer's heat their lascivious phrases and overly
familiar words have entered people's flesh and bone and cannot be
gotten out. I have no position and cannot use the law to bring this
under control."

Bai was also criticized for his "carelessness and repetitiveness",
especially his later works. He was nevertheless placed by Tang poet
Zhang Wei (張為) in his Schematic of Masters and Followers Among the
Poets (詩人主客圖) at the head of his first category: "extensive
and grand civilizing power".